Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a big day for the people of Eden. The eldest and only prince of the royal family, Kageyama Tobio, was to be christened king of the land. His father was, after all, well past his prime, and Eden needed a strong leader in good health. In fact, everyone in Eden was attending the ceremony. They had to, it was the law. On a completely different note...While Eden did seem to be the perfect utopia on the outside, it faced a major problem.

Eden was made up of a society ranked similarly to wolves in a pack. There were the alphas, the strong, dominant type, often viewed as the cream of the crop. The entire male side of the Kageyama bloodline was pure alpha. There'd never been a beta or omega king. The alphas of Eden were roughly 40% of the population. Alphas tended to be full of themselves, overconfident, and self-centered. They also made up the more privileged sector of society.

The most common type of person, however, was a beta. Betas were very, very, very  average. Average in smarts, in sports...average in just about every aspect of their lives. Betas tend to be hard-working and middle-class, as I mentioned earlier. They're neither domineering nor overly submissive. And while alphas are tall and broad-shouldered (typically well-muscled, too), betas tended to be very, very average in stature, muscle mass, and/or shoulder width. If I had to guesstimate, I'd say betas made up 50% of Eden's citizens.

Finally, the rarest kind of creature: the omega. Now might be a good time to add the alphas can be male and female, but neither can get pregnant (but they sure as hell impregnate). Also, beta females can get pregnant (they can't impregnate) and vice versa for males. Omegas, on the other hand, male of female, could only get pregnant. That was all they were good for through the eyes of society. Omegas were often dainty, weak, frail, and easily injured. Broken bones (even if the injuries didn't appear to be fatal) could kill them. The same with rapid temperature changes, fevers, blood loss, and even colds. That's not all, though. Omegas go into a "heat" or period of extreme sexual desire, once a month. These heats could be up to a few days or an entire week. Usually, the longer time between heats, the longer and more intense the heats turn out to be. And, like with injuries, omegas can even die if a heat is too intense and their lust is unfulfilled. Omegas also tend to have very meek, timid, and submissive natures. Despite all these factors, though, the people of Eden continued to regard omegas as lowlier than dirt, and treated them even worse. As a result, they went completely extinct. Now, during Prince Tobio's time, only female betas could give birth to children, and even though they were many in number, the children born weren't nearly as vigorous and healthy as children born from an omega.

 Back to the present. Hundreds and thousands of alphas and betas huddled around a square platform, a stage, really, in the center of the capital, Destiny. The stage stood in front of the king's palace. On this platform kneeled Prince Tobio, eyes closed, head bowed, as a golden crown was placed over his head.

"I now pronounce Prince Kageyama Tobio the III King of Eden!" The crowd erupted in cheers. All except a mother and her two children. They frayed at the edge of the group, as far away from the king-crowned-prince as possible.

Chapter Text

It was practically law that all of the citizens of Eden, the rich, the poor, and the inbetween, attend the king's after party. No one could get out of it. Not that many people wanted to, either. King Kageyama was handsome, athletic, chivalrous, and crush-worthy in every possible way.

"Thank you all for coming," said previously mentioned king, raising his flute of champagne elegantly into the air. By now, everybody had gathered in the palace courtyard, enjoying the fresh night air.

Now, some might call prince, no King Kageyama a bit two-faced. Let me assure you...they're absolutely right. To the public, he was all smiles, sunshine, and rainbows, but those who really knew him (ie. family, servants, etc.) knew he was a complete and total jackass, for lack of a better term. Selfish, arrogant, possessive, controlling, hot-tempered, mean...These were just a few of the words used to describe the man. It was a godsend that he kept up appearances for the public.

"Go mingle with the commoners," his father urged. Reluctantly, Kageyama obeyed, intergrating himself into the crowd.

All of a sudden, he heard growling near one of the many outdoor buffets, though this one seemed rather sparse in both people and delicacies. Curious, the young king edged towards the noise.

Before I (A.K.A. me, the narrator) go on, I should probably mention one important fact. Alphas, betas, omega...they all have their own scent that makes them attractive to potential mates. Therefore, a person's class can be identified by their smell. In fact, even emotions produce a particular aroma. For example, an omega/alpha/beta can tell if another omega/alpha/beta is happy or angry or scared or excited...You get the idea. Back to Kageyama.

Eventually, he came upon a young beta girl (14-years-old, at most) cowering behind an even smaller...alpha?

The young king himself was 20-years-old, and the boy before him now, the alpha, small as he was (seriously, if Tobio stood next to him, the top of his head would only be halfway up his chest) looked about the same age, maybe a few years younger. How Kageyama knew, he wasn't sure, but his gut was telling him so.

"Come on little alpha, give me your sister and I won't beat you to death like I used to in high school," snarled a rather large, brawn-y, and angry alpha.

"No way in hell, Maureen," said the small alpha, baring his teeth.

Kageyama couldn't help but bite back a gasp (he had concealed himself behind a pillar, and wanted to watch the intriguing scene play out, not too keen on being discovered just yet). The reason such a small bit of noise threatened to escape his lips was this: That little alpha was feminine in every possible way, from his delicate, girly facial features to his tiny, adorable little canines.

"Leave my sister alone," the subject of the king's captivation repeated. He pushed the beta girl even farther behind him.

"Oh, come on. I just wanna borrow her for a night," sneered the bigger alpha, apparently called Maureen. He took a few steps closer to the unfortunate soul in his way. It was almost comical how he loomed over his victim.

"Back off," the little alpha growled up at him, twice as ferocious. "You'll have to go through me if you want to get to Natsu." Ah, Natsu must've been his sister's name.

"Bring it on," said Maureen, raising a meaty fist and slamming it into his opponent's gut. To Kageyama's surprise, the other alpha dropped like a sack of potatoes, clutching his stomach and coughing up blood like there was no tomorrow.

What a weak alpha, he commented. I've never seen anyone so helpless. And a blow like that shouldn't have caused so much damage to his body. What a wimp.

"Hinata!" the girl shrieked. Fearscent radiated off both her and her brother. Especially her brother.

If he's that afraid, why doesn't he stop fighting and give up his sister? Kageyama mused. He's obviously terrified and useless in a physical battle.

However, the small boy simply stood up again, gaze determined, fists clenched (albeit shaking) and blocked Maureen's path.

"Little punk!" the other alpha snarled, raining blow after blow down upon Hinata.

"Please, please stop!" his sister Natsu begged. "You don't understand...he'll die if you keep this up!"

"I'm supposed to be protecting you," Hinata said weakling from his position on the ground. Another punch hit him square in the chest, and his face contorted in pain. "It's my duty as your big brother. Now run. Find Mom and go back to the house as soon as you can. I'll be fine. I'll meet up with you guys later."

"Hinata--" she tried to protest.

"GO!"

The shaking beta took off like a shot, rushing right by the pillar Kageyama was hiding behind, not even realizing he was there.

"You're gonna pay for that," said Maureen. "It's your fault she got away." Hinata attempted to stand back up, but he proceeded to knock him down and kick him in the ribs again and again and again. Tears filled Hinata's eyes and he curled in on himself. When the bigger man paused for a moment, ready to hunt after and track down Natsu, the small boy smirked up at him, grabbing his pantleg.

"Is that all you got, weakling?" he smiled bitterly, for some reason goading Maureen into hitting him more and more. Kageyama was puzzled. He couldn't figure out why Hinata sent his sister away, and then continued to fight with the larger, clearly stronger alpha.

Nearly twenty minutes elapsed before Maureen lumbered off for a drink, realizing his prey was probably long gone by now. Now that he was alone (or so it appeared) Hinata hugged his knees to his chest, shaking and wracking his body with sobs--wait, no, they were more like whimpers.

Sighing, wondering what the hell he was about to do, Kageyama came out of his hiding spot and approached the beat-up alpha.

"Are you alright?" he asked in his I'm-such-an-amazing-good-doer-king voice, holding out his hand.

For a second, Hinata's eyes went wide with fear, and he was far to disoriented to realize who, exactly, was helping him up.

"Thanks, man," he replied, voice sweet and high. "You might have to pull me up, though. I think I cracked a coup'la ribs." He chuckled dryly.

"Okay." Kageyama grabbed hand and pulled him up easily. Too easily. The kid weighed practically nothing!

As he brought Hinata upwards, Hinata stumbled forward and into Kageyama's chest.

"Hey, are you--" he dropped off. Oh my god. Kageyama's nose had landed in the crook of his neck, and Hinata smelled AMAZING. And that's when he knew. Hinata wasn't an alpha, he was an omega. Something was masking his scent to make him smell like an alpha. Most likely illegal alpha pheromones, he thought.

Hinata must've sensed something was wrong, so he stepped back, trembling with effort as he awkwardly stood on his own two feet, face scrunched up in hurt. "Man, are you alright?"

"You're an omega," Kageyama deadpanned. "I thought omegas went extinct some time ago."

Hinata's eyes went wide. "Oh shit!" he exclaimed. "They must be wearing off!"

"Illegally bought alpha pheromones, you mean?" said Kageyama, quirking an eyebrow.

"You, you, you, you..." Hinata sputtered. Then, he shot off in the direction of the courtyard exit. Kageyama's jaw dropped. It was clear the boy was in a lot of pain, but he was running faster than a supersonic mouse from a cat.

"Get back here!" Kageyama roared, but Hinata easily slipped into the crowd of commoners, and made an escape into the night.